Learn what a house finch looks like and how to attract one. Find out facts about the house finch nest, eggs, range, habitat and song.
How to Identify a House Finch
Updated on Dec. 10, 2024
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What Does a House Finch Look Like?
The male has reddish forehead, breast and rump; a female house finch is streaked gray and brown above, with a lighter underside. Both sexes have brown-streaked bellies. These birds measure 5 3/4 inches long with a 9 1/2 inch wingspan.
Scientific Name: Haemorhous mexicanus
Family: Finch
House finch vs purple finch: How to tell the difference.
What Do House Finches Eat?
Their diet mainly consists of seeds, berries and weeds. Attract them to your backyard bird feeders with nyjer, black oil sunflower seed, safflower seed, peanuts and suet. In spring and summer, try offering fruit and sugar water.
House Finch Plumage Color
“This bird (above) looks like a house finch, but the coloring is not typical. What kind of bird is this?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Jean Bullock of Du Quoin, Illinois.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “What you have there is a house finch with a fascinating color variation. Male house finches are usually marked with red, but sometimes those red areas are replaced with orange or yellow or some of both. The red pigment in the feathers is affected by what the finch eats, so there might have been deficiencies in the bird’s diet back when this set of feathers was growing in. If this individual continues to visit your yard, you may see it develop the normal red coloring the next time it molts new feathers.”
Learn how to identify a Cassin’s finch.
Nest and Eggs
Their nest is a cup made of natural materials, string and feathers on tree branches or manmade structures; the nest holds four to five spotted bluish-white eggs.
Check out more super pretty pictures of finches.
House Finch Song
Listen to the house finch’s song. This species makes a varied warble sound, often ending in a long “veeerrr.”
Bird songs provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Learn what an American goldfinch looks like and sounds like.
Range Map
This was a western species until the 1940s, when an unethical pet dealer introduced the birds to the east as “Hollywood finches”. They quickly spread to all eastern states and are now a commonly sighted backyard bird.
Birders might see them in woodlands, parks, residential areas, farms, deserts across much of the United States year-round.
Range maps provided by Kaufman Field Guides, the official field guide of Birds & Blooms.
Next, learn how to attract a redpoll bird to your backyard.
About the Experts
Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman are the official bird experts for Birds & Blooms. They are the creators of the Kaufman Field Guide series and they lead birding trips all over the world.
